End the siege, open the Port of Gaza and the Rafah crossing …

Khaled Meshaal has just addressed the international press corp in Doha where he spoke with incredible gravitas. The politics were clearly Palestinian. He did not speak simply as the spokesman for Hamas. He spoke as a Palestinian addressing the continuing wound of an ongoing occupation. He made it clear that there can be no resolution of the conflict right now without the people of Gaza being recognised as the dignified people that they are who simply want freedom, like any other people in the world. The siege has to be lifted.

Palestinians must have their freedom. This is the message coming out of Ramallah, Gaza City, Doha and Geneva. The call for Palestinian freedom is also coming from the streets in places like Paris, London and Chicago. It is not just Navi Pillay and South American representatives in the Human Rights Council who are calling for Palestinian freedom. The call is everywhere.

We are all sick of the disingenuous rhetoric coming out of Tel Aviv. We hear the same message time after time. Suddenly we are all Palestinians. We all want that siege lifted …

We have a Palestinian National Government now. The world welcomes this unity; indeed we celebrate its creation. In Palestine it is time for unity. Palestine has not gone away as the founders of Israel in 1948 hoped. Palestine is alive and kicking in the soul of ten million Palestinians whether they live in Gaza, the West Bank, Isreal or any number of locations around the Arab world, Europe and the Americas. The Palestinian resistance is the resistance of our common humanity. Free, free Palestine. Our day is coming and like our brothers and sisters in Gaza we will never give up.